I think the reason I enjoy Ghibli so much is it romanticizes the little things. It makes me want to bake, study, clean the house, garden, and more while listening to happy music and occasionally picking wildflowers and lying in the grass. It helps me find joy in day-to-day life and that’s honestly sooo important for my mental health.
Hayao Miyazaki has said on numerous occasions that he wants children to know that even when the world seems harsh and life is hard, it is always still worth living, and there is always something beautiful in it.
That mental health boost is intentional and Miyazaki wants you to believe that you should continue to live, even if just for those little things.
THEY WERE MISSING FOR FUCKING YEARS OMG, THIS ALWAYS UPSETS ME SO MUCH
I always see the discussion that many days, months, years have passed during this story.
I present to you a different idea.
There’s several themes behind Spirited Away: Capitalism’s effect on Japan, Environmental issues, and notably, Chihiro’s coming of age story.
From what I know, the idea of time passing differently in spirit worlds, is more based on western stories of the fae.
But something more common in Japanese folklore is spirit trickery/deception. Or more accurately. What you see, isn’t always what’s actually there.
Chihiro starts this story as a young child, before her coming-of-age arc, that more or less forces her to become ‘an adult’. More accurately. The challenges she faces makes her mature as a person.
What’s the most common thing in folklore? Children see what’s actually there.
What she means: In Howl’s Moving Castle Sophie goes back in time and witnesses Howl making his original deal with Calcifer thus discovering the way to break Howl’s curse and before she leaves she tells Howl to find her in the future and if you recall to the beginning of the movie Howl saves Sophie from some highly questionable and rapey soldiers and tells her “there you are sweetheart, sorry I’m late, I’ve been looking everywhere for you” because he took what she told him as a child to heart and has been looking for her ever since and if that’s not the tightest shit ever I don’t know what is
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